- RFK Jr. and Trump deliver multiple anti-scientific rants about Tylenol and vaccines in connection to autism. After promising to find the “cause” for autism by September, HHS’s RFK Jr. delivered a series of unhinged press conferences about the dangers of Tylenol. He cited a small and since debunked study that found a slight correlation between Tylenol-use during pregnancy and autism rates of children.
The study was later thrown out— doctors noted an already known risk factor to fetal development is the activation of the maternal immune system. Given that pregnant women’s Tylenol use would overlap with illness, it would be difficult to parse these variables. Later, a much larger sibling study found no correlation between Tylenol use and autism rates.
The latest rants are dangerous and cruel, given that Tylenol is one of the only approved medications for pain and fever relief during pregnancy. Fever during pregnancy is another risk factor for birth defects and other fetal harm. They’re also a grift– one supposed “cure” for the reversal of autism RFK suggests is a B vitamin-derivative supplement, a popular version that comes from a competitor to Tylenol’s parent company, iHerb, of which Dr. Oz is an investor. Oz had previously said he would divest from the company when appointed to his Medicare position, but whether he did is unclear. The FDA reasserted on Twitter/X that only a prescription form of the product is recommended for certain patients following a blood test, but that hasn’t stopped the explosion of promotion and sales across MAHA platforms.
Trump and MAHA also took aim at the administration of Hepatitis B shots, as well as Vitamin K shots, to infants, suggesting the former should be held off until tweendom due to the sexually transmitted nature of the disease. However, victims of permanent liver damage from Hepatitis B are overwhelmingly infants, and Vitamin K prevents brain hemorrhage and death in newborns. Vitamin K does not cross the placenta or into breastmilk efficiently; death from Vitamin K deficiency bleeding is 81 times less likely in those infants who receive the shot. - Republicans leave DC to avoid negotiation on healthcare subsidies, triggering government shutdown. Congress was set to negotiate on a budget bill, but Speaker Johnson sent the Republicans home instead. Democrats had said they would not pass the bill as is, requesting that healthcare subsidies be extended to offset rising costs. Healthcare subsidies not only help people to purchase insurance in the marketplace, but this infusion of money into the system protects everyone from the closure of clinics and hospitals who rely on Medicaid/care and insurance dollars.
The shutdown furloughs many government workers, with others performing essential functions without pay. Experts worry that a prolonged shutdown could also harm the distribution of life-saving services like WIC supplemental nutrition. The last government shutdown was in 2018, also under Trump. - Despite ACIP’s recommendations, several states are still blocking access to covid vaccines without a prescription. Missouri, Georgia, and Louisiana are still preventing people from getting covid vaccines without a prescription, despite recommendations out of the CDC’s immunization committee.
Experts speculate this is because no CDC director has signed off on the recommendations, since Trump fired the CDC director. However, none of the state laws stipulate a CDC signature must be in place for the recommendations to be adopted. - Congress fails to pass extensions–Medicare’s coverage for telehealth speech therapy and audiology services has ended. These services were essential for families especially in rural areas where they may otherwise face multi-hour drives and long waitlists.
- The First Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Department of Education is allowed to fire half its’ Civil Rights Department staff. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) inside DoED exists specifically to protect students facing discrimination or those who have experienced sexual assault, and the process of filing a complaint can, in many places, already take years.
Halving the staff essentially removes consequences for perpetrators of racism, ableism, sexism, sexual abuse, and the intersections thereof, and will be devastating to the equitable education and safety of marginalized students. - Department of Education partners with Turning Point, Moms for Liberty to create new “patriotic” history and civics curriculum.
DoEd announced an initiative to create a new history and civics curriculum lead by far-right extremist organizations. The curriculum will likely continue propagate racist erasures of US history and anti-DEIA book bans, two pet projects of the involved groups.
Previously, DoEd was not involved in creating specific curriculum–this decision was left up to individual states and districts.
Public comment on the initiative is now open until October 17. - Good News: Some mental health grants for schools have been restored. McMahon’s Department of Education had previously cut a billion dollars worth of grants geared toward student mental health, but, due to backlash, recently restored $270 million. The restored grants focus on school psychologists, only, and leave out counselors and social workers, but they do serve as proof that backlash and public comment can still be effective.
What to Do:
Get your vaccinations up to date as soon as possible, and ask your state to join a state-level public health collaborative if they haven’t yet.
Hit the streets if you are able. March, attend a town hall, school board meeting, or other local action. Go, but don’t RSVP, to a protest! Consider purchasing a reusable respirator (gas mask) if attending a mass protest, due to recent escalations in use of tear gas and other “less lethal” force at actions.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate. Write to Apple to tell them their blocking of the ICE Block app is unacceptable capitulation.
Call your representatives and especially your local officials to ensure special education gaps are being filled in your district.
Leave a public comment saying no to forced Turning Point history curriculum in public schools.
Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.
Make a plan to vote in upcoming local elections, in person when possible. Down ballot elections matter more than ever.
Move to (more) secure encrypted apps when possible. Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.
Category: MEdicaid
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Week 36 + 37 Updates
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Weeks 34+35
- Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends calls for the mass murder of unhoused people. The discussion, about how to handle growing populations of unhoused people, especially those who are mentally ill, Kilmeade said we should “just kill them” using “involuntary lethal injection.” Unhoused people often have a disability or mental illness, and Kilmeade spoke emphatically about his idea to kill them all in the context of discussion about a murder committed by an unhoused man in North Carolina.
He later apologized, but kept his job.
(In contrast, Karen Attiah of the Washington Post was fired for her social media comments on the rhetoric of the late Charlie Kirk, and Jimmy Kimmel was removed from the air “indefinitely” for criticizing MAGA response to Kirk’s death. In the latter, the head of the FCC got directly involved by pressuring the network to remove Kimmel, then attempting to extort a “meaningful personal donation” to far-right organizations should he seek to return on-air. ) - The Trump administration continues to push arguments that IUDs and birth control pills are actually abortions. The administration used the argument as a pretext to cancel a USAID family planning program and destroy millions in birth control, and has floated attempts to employ reasoning domestically. Pro-choice advocates have warned about this as an an administrative goal since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
- The last of the NIH’s communications and policy specialists are being eliminated. These are the experts who take highly scientific and technical knowledge and make sure it is transparent and understandable for healthcare workers and the general public. Without access to the NIH’s vast work in medical research, RFK Jr. and other anti-science leaders will be able to more easily make and spread false claims, and subsequent policy changes.
- The Department of Ed makes millions in Special Ed cuts, citing anti-DEIA. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) pulled 25 grants from IDEA-related programs worth nearly $15 million. The Rehabilitation Services Office also canceled 9 disability related grants. The grants supported special ed teacher training, community parent resource centers, brail and interpreter training, and services for DeafBlind children and adults.
Programs across 16 states will be impacted, and the cuts begin October 1st. In a letter sent to the affected programs, the administration said the cuts were made with an anti-DEIA motivation, because the programs don’t “align with Administration’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education.” - Covid vaccines live to see another year based on Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)’s latest vote. Though RFK had attempted to fill the committee with antivaxxers and covid deniers, the group ultimately voted 7-6 to allow people to make their own choices with their physicians about whether they would like the the covid vaccine. Due to these recommendations, vaccines should be available without a prescription in all 50 states.
The ACIP still needs to weigh in on other concerning vaccine related topics, specifically an attempt to delay the administration of the MMRV and Hepatitis B vaccines to babies. Hepatitis B had previously been considered eradicated in child populations thanks to wide vaccine uptake. - States form their own health coalitions, creative workarounds, in light of anti-scientific recommendations from HHS. As the HHS under RFK continues to create barriers to access for vaccines and other preventative care, states who previously relied on CDC recommendations, many of whom had laws tethering state guidance to the CDC, have taken matters into their own hands.
The West Coast Health Alliance (Washington, California, Oregon, and Hawaii) and the Northeast Public Health Collaborative (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Maryland and Vermont) have been formed to issue evidence-based public health recommendations, remove barriers to vaccine access, and collaborate on emergency preparedness in the absence of organizations like FEMA.
Meanwhile, Michigan public health officials had floated declaring “not having the latest covid booster” an underlying health condition, in order to make it easier for all those who want it to obtain the vaccine.
Large groups of insurance companies have also already committed to continuing to pay for vaccination regardless of current HHS recommendations. - Access to speech and hearing services via telehealth to end this month under Medicare. Under current Medicare provisions, access to speech therapy and audiology services via telehealth will end on September 30th, unless Congress acts to extend them. HR 5081 and 1614 are two possible bills that could extend the services.
Telehealth speech therapy and audiology services are especially important for early intervention in rural areas that wouldn’t otherwise have access to specialists. - Administration declares “Antifa” and trans people terror threats. Trump took to social media this week to announce that he was labeling antifa a “major terrorist organization,” while the FBI declared trans people a “nihilistic violent extremist” threat group.
Antifa, an abbreviation for anti-fascist, is a general ideology, and has no official organization or hierarchy. Further, the president does not have legal authority to designate terror groups.
Trans people are a very small percentage of the population and there is no evidence to suggest they are more violent than cis people; however, they are statistically much more likely to be victims of violent crime.
The move by the administration to label those they disagree with as “terrorists” should concern everyone interested in free speech and bodily autonomy, especially in the wake of a recent attempt by the GOP to allow Rubio’s State Department the ability to strip passports from citizens belonging to “terror” groups. (The bill has been pulled for now after backlash.) - US democratic status in peril as state media censorship and ICE-related deaths spike. We highly recommend this breakdown of the ten steps required to transfer from a democratic to authoritarian form of government (2 min video.)
What to do:
Get your vaccinations up to date as soon as possible, and ask your state to join a state-level public health collaborative if they haven’t yet. If you live in Florida, contact your state representatives and tell them not to remove vaccine guidelines for schoolchildren. Despite rhetoric, state law about this is still in effect.Hit the streets if you are able. March, attend a town hall, school board meeting, or other local action. Don’t RSVP to a protest! Consider purchasing a reusable respirator (gas mask) if attending a mass protest, due to recent escalations in use of tear gas and other “less lethal” force at actions.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.
Call your representatives, but also your local officials to ensure special education gaps are being filled in your district.Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.
Move to (more) secure encrypted apps when possible. Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.
- Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends calls for the mass murder of unhoused people. The discussion, about how to handle growing populations of unhoused people, especially those who are mentally ill, Kilmeade said we should “just kill them” using “involuntary lethal injection.” Unhoused people often have a disability or mental illness, and Kilmeade spoke emphatically about his idea to kill them all in the context of discussion about a murder committed by an unhoused man in North Carolina.
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Week 32 Updates
1. RFK Jr’s eugenic rampage continues to burn through the Department of Health and Human Services.
RFK fired Susan Moneraz, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, throwing an already tumultuous climate at the institution in to chaos, and prompting several other high-level resignations at the institution.Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, one of the scientists who resigned, raised alarms as he left about RFK’s love of eugenics and frequent discussion of “superior genetics.” Eugenics, a pseudoscientific school of thought tied to white supremacist ideas about genetic and racial “purity” was behind the US’s forced sterilization and anti-anti-miscegenation laws in the early 20th century. In Germany, the Nazi’s took eugenic ideology to it’s extreme conclusions via the mass murder of Jewish people, as well as Roma, disabled people, LGBTQ people, “race traitors” and others they deemed undesirable.
Daskalakis said RFK applied eugenic theory to internal discussions about bird flu, which he proposed should be allowed to “burn through” chickens, and then children and adults, in order to propagate a “stronger species.” The CDC had ended their emergency bird flu response at RFK’s order last month.
2. RFK and antivax appointees restrict access to covid vaccines, despite saying people would have a choice.
Simultaneously, the FDA placed restrictions on who is allowed to receive this year’s covid vaccines–limiting them to “high-risk” groups or those over 65. CVS and Walgreens in more than 16 states are refusing to administer vaccinations while awaiting the CDC’s vaccine committee approval, while others are requiring prescriptions.Over the past months, RFK has replaced nearly all panel members with known antivaxxers, some of whom have spoken explicitly against covid vaccines and mRNA technology. The panel meeting, which typically occurs in the summer, it has been postponed for unknown reasons to mid-September, with some concern that its antivax members have no intention of holding the meeting.
While vaccines may be accessible in other locations, it’s important to note that CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the country, and often the only option in rural areas. The company also owns Aetna insurance and forces those clients to receive care at only CVS.
3. CDC cuts back foodborne illness surveillance program. The FoodNet program previously required surveillance from eight pathogens to two. They will continue monitoring for e. coli and salmonella, but will no longer require monitoring for campylobacter, cyclospora, listeria, shigella, vibirio and yersinia. Foodborne illnesses are particularly harmful to disabled and immunocompromised people, as well as children and the elderly. In particular, listeria is known to cause stillbirth when a pregnant person contracts the bacteria.4. Pediatric brain tumor research cut. The National Cancer Institute has announced it will no longer fund the work of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, a network of physicians and researchers who have been running clinical trials for patients with childhood brain cancer not responding to other treatments, for over 25 years.
In addition to the loss of groundbreaking treatments for terminally ill children, researchers are mourning the loss of the network that allows them collaborate across institutions, which has led to better outcomes for patents and further scientific innovations over the life of the project.5. The Trump Administration is contracting with private AI companies, using AI to determine whether certain procedures should be covered by Medicare. In addition to the many, many concerns about the efficacy of AI to perform basic functions of preapproval, like reading and drawing logical conclusions, and not making things up, the company will also have incentive to reject–they will receive a portion of the profits for every rejected claim.
6. AI chatbots continue to fuel mental health crises, resulting in multiple deaths by suicide. At least one AI company has said they will combat the problem by flagging chat results for the police, which may cause more danger for those in crisis. AI chatbots have been at the center of a string of mental health crises, including goading suicidal ideation and providing feedback on how best to carry out self-harm (also here and here), a conversation about avoiding salt that led to one man giving himself bromine poisoning, and a Connecticut man who killed his mother, then himself after encouragement from an LLM.
In response, OpenAI has said they have begun scanning ChatGPT conversations in order to report content to the police. The company has said this will not result in wellness checks, so the function of the reporting is unclear. Many murders by police begin as encounters with a person experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal behaviors–at least 356 such individuals were killed by police between 2017-2020.What to do:
Call your state officials and ask them how they can facilitate access to covid vaccines in lieu of federal leadership. For example, Illinois is exploring how to purchase its own contracts with vaccine manufacturers, while a group of mid-Atlantic and New England states met this week to consider issuing their own recommendations apart from the CDC.
If you have access, please get a covid and flu vaccine to help protect immunocompromised people in your community.Hit the streets if you are able. March, attend a town hall, school board meeting, or other local action.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.
Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.
Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.
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Week 28 Update
- Department of Health and Human Services reclassifies Head Start. This week, HHS reclassified Head Start as a welfare program instead of an educational program. This reverses the legal precedent of Plyler v. Doe that all children in the US have a right to education.
The reclassification allows HHS to restrict children’s access to Head Start programming on the basis of immigration, income, other other statuses, (if the program continues–the administration’s current budget bill also cuts funding).
Head Start provides early education, family support, health and nutritional services, with a focus on children 0-5 and pregnant women. - Appeals Court erodes Voting Rights Act protections for disabled and ELL voters. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that neither voters nor private organizations can sue under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act. This statute is supposed to protect the rights of disabled voters, English language learners, and those with other language barriers who need assistance at the polls.
The ruling says only the Department of Justice can enforce the law, and also upheld an Arkansas law that allows for criminal charges against anyone who helps more than six voters at the polls. - Jobs report and economic indicators paint a grim picture. A dismal July jobs report shows that only 106,000 jobs were added over the past three months, a quarter million fewer than previously reported. These are some of the worst Labor statistics to come out since early pandemic.
Unhappy with the poor numbers, President Trump then fired the Labor Statistics Chief via a post on Truth Social, prompting concerns about whether any government data can be trusted going forward.
A new Executive Order announced another round of tariffs on dozens of countries, prompting stock market drops and companies announcing price hikes, including Proctor and Gamble’s 25% raise on diapers, soap, detergent, toothpaste, and more. - Administration launches new health tracking program using private data. Officials are asking Americans to share their private medical and personal health data to be incorporated into a new government tracking system that officials say will “broaden access to health records” and “monitor wellness.”
More than 60 Big Tech and Healthcare companies, including Google, Apple, Amazon, CVS, United and others have agreed to share data. Medicaid and Medicare data will also be included, on an “opt-in” basis for now.
This is concerning to all data privacy advocates, especially in the hands of an administration that has openly embraced eugenic policy. - Good news? Senate Appropriations Committee pushes back for 2026. This week, the bipartisan Senate Committee on Appropriations released their Fiscal Year 2026 bill, pushing back on Trump’s Budget, including:
Provides $116.6 billion increase in discretionary funding for HHS
$48.7 billion increase for NIH and rejection of the 15% indirect cost cap
$85 million increase for Childcare Development Block Grant and Head Start. Rejects cuts to SAMHSA programs for substance abuse and mental health programs
It remains to be seen if the Senate at large will accept the committee’s proposal.
Action items:
Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
Hit the streets if you are able. It’s past due.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.
Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.
Encourage your Senator to support the Appropriations Committee’s proposals to push back on budget cuts.
Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech when possible.
Consider running for local office or getting involved to support a local candidate through organizing or phone banking–especially progressive primary challengers.
Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.
- Department of Health and Human Services reclassifies Head Start. This week, HHS reclassified Head Start as a welfare program instead of an educational program. This reverses the legal precedent of Plyler v. Doe that all children in the US have a right to education.
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Week 26 Update
- SCOTUS rules on Dept of Ed. case, approving mass layoffs and paving the way for the dismantling of the department. SCOTUS ruled that DoEd’s mass layoffs (or RIFs)–attempted in March but temporarily stopped by a lower court–are allowed to move forward.
This includes many positions that are required to be filled by law, ex: IDEA, The Education of the Deaf Act. However, SCOTUS has allowed the administration to ignore the law, and opened the door for further layoffs. Only Congress can legally dismantle a department, but the administration is already ignoring the law, and if no one works there, DoEd will not function.
This is in conjunction with the illegal withholding of previously approved funds from July 1, and the trashing of several thousand civil rights complaints. DoEd employees are now scheduled to leave Aug 1. - George Retes found and released; deaf Mongolian man remains in ICE detention. Retes, a 25 year old disabled US Army veteran was working as a security guard on a farm in Camarillo, CA. Though he is a US citizen, he was kidnapped from his car by ICE, and held for several days.
A deaf Mongolian man who was attempting to seek asylum following legal protocol continues to be detained for over four months, without due process or a sign language interpreter. ICE agents reportedly attempted to use Google Translate with him, resulting in severe miscommunications on basic facts.
These disabled men are just two of many kidnapped by ICE and held in squalid conditions without accommodations or information. - Department of Labor to allow subminimum wage to continue. A Department of Labor statute giving businesses “sheltered workshop certifications” has long been a loophole for employers of severely disabled people to pay them less than minimum wage. Half the people employed under this statute are paid less than $3.50 an hour.
Biden’s Department of Labor had started to repeal the rule, but the Trump administration has rolled back that request.
The fight for wage equality must include disabled people, who face massive inequities with respect to sheltered workshops, general employment discrimination, disproportionate benefits compared to cost of living and inflation, and loss of benefits when getting married. - Department of Labor to end hiring goal for disabled federal contractors. In 2013, the Obama DoL implemented a rule with a goal of at least employing disabled federal contractors at a rate of at least 7%.
This was to comply with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, and help combat high rates of unemployment discrimination for disabled people. The program long been considered a successful step in improving wage and employment gaps for disabled workers. About 25% of people in the US have some type of disability, so even 7% is far below population representation.
The Trump DoL will now repeal the rule, and stop tracking any data on disability within federal contracting. - Insurance costs spike under new GOP budget. The GOP budget passed on July 4th, teeing up Medicaid and Medicare cuts that will harm the quality of life for many disabled people, and are expected to kill over 51,000 people annually from otherwise preventable deaths.
Those who buy private insurance on the ACA marketplace will also be affected. Biden had previously provided subsidies to help with high payments, but they are now expiring. More than a quarter of providers are planning a rate hike of 20% or more.
The new law also makes it harder to enroll in health insurance on the marketplace by shortening enrollment window and denying enrollment for those with outstanding balances. - Dept. of Justice makes concerning move toward English-only services and materials. The memo says the department will “lead a coordinated effort to minimize non-essential multilingual services, redirect resources toward English-language education and assimilation, and ensure compliance with legal obligations through targeted measures where necessary.”
This is a concern for all English language learners. Disabled people and/or signed languages are neither explicitly mentioned or excluded, (except citing case law that said offering disability/ss applications in English only is not a legal violation). It is unclear but concerning how this will impact deaf and hard-of-hearing people and others who use signed languages to communicate. - They’re messing with the elections. The Department of Justice is making an unprecedented demand for sensitive election data. The request include access to voter rolls and in some cases “all records.” This is an abnormal request and it is unclear what the DOJ wants that data for. The requests went mainly to swing states, but others were included, too.
Meanwhile, Texas is seeking to illegally redistrict to add five congressional seats in projected “red” areas. This is illegal, as new maps are not due to be drawn until 2031.
Contact your local officials and demand they protect election integrity in your state. Folks both in and outside of Texas can also contact congress to stop the illegal redistricting. Templates are available for residents of any state to use. - Action items: Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
Hit the streets if you are able. It’s past due.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.
Boycott businesses supporting these policies. Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.
Contact your local officials and congresspeople and ask them to protect election integrity. (See above templates).
Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech.
Consider running for local office or getting involved to support a local candidate through organizing or phone banking–especially progressive primary challengers.
Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.
- SCOTUS rules on Dept of Ed. case, approving mass layoffs and paving the way for the dismantling of the department. SCOTUS ruled that DoEd’s mass layoffs (or RIFs)–attempted in March but temporarily stopped by a lower court–are allowed to move forward.
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Week 25 Updates
1. FEMA ends door to door assistance, leaving elderly and disabled stranded. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been a target of the Trump administration, with DOGE cutting 20% of its employees and attempting to freeze funds, and Trump repeatedly pushing for disaster response to be a state-level problem.
Experts say a diminished FEMA and National Weather Service made warning and rescue response times slower, leading to more deaths in disasters like the recent Texas floods, which killed over 120.
Due to cuts, FEMA has now stopped door-to-door work in disaster zones, focusing instead on shelters only. However, this potentially leaves the elderly, disabled, and those without transportation stranded.2. Disabled veteran and US Citizen George Reddis detained by ICE, now missing. The 25 year old disabled US Army veteran was working as a security guard on a farm in Camarillo, CA. (video contains auto-captions)Though he is a US citizen, he was taken by ICE.
His family saw news footage of the raid in which agents broke his truck window, pepper sprayed him, pulled him from the vehicle and threw him to the ground before arresting him.
Family haven’t heard from him since the kidnapping, and can’t find where he is being detained. In addition to contacting law enforcement, they are seeking any tips from the public who may have seen where he was taken.
He’s not the first US citizen kidnapped by ICE, and he won’t be the last.3. Concern for disabled immigrant detainees in the face of NQRP, oversight cuts. Funding for the National Qualified Representation program (NQRP), which provides legal aid for immigrants with cognitive disabilities or mental illness was cut in April. Now, as ICE ups indiscriminate arrests, more disabled people are caught in raids with no recourse.
This comes as Homeland Security has gutted other oversight mechanisms, including the Office of Civil Rights and Civil liberties and the ombudsman within the department.
Deaths and reports of injury, assault and neglect within ICE facilities have surged in recent weeks.
More than half of ICE detainees have committed no crimes. Less than 10% have ever been convicted of a violent offense.4. SCOTUS ruling paves the way for more governmental restructuring and layoffs. SCOTUS released a ruling related to the layoffs (RIFs) of multiple agencies, paving the way for more authoritarian governance.
While SCOTUS didn’t comment on the legality of the layoffs specifically, they allowed for restructuring and consolidation of certain powers by the executive branch, which previously required Congressional approval.
The ruling suggests RIF legality can be decided by lower courts, though it’s unclear how this will mesh with the previous ruling that lower courts can’t issue national injunctions, (except in class-actions).
This ruling doesn’t affect the Dept. of Ed. which is a separate case currently waiting on the emergency docket.5. State Dept lays off 1300+ people. The move comes days after SCOTUS’s previously stated ruling, about the consolidation of power within the executive branch.
Experts warn that removing diplomatic expertise at a tense time in international relations can have dangerous national security consequences.
In general, the shrinking of the Department of State’s civil and diplomatic service consolidates power under fewer people, and party loyalists.
The entire DOS accommodations team was among the layoffs.6. HHS blocks access to key services for undocumented immigrants. The Department of Health and Human Services recently reclassified a series of public programs in keeping with Trump’s February Executive Order, an effort to make sure that undocumented immigrants or their families cannot access social services.
These programs include Community Behavioral Health Clinics and Mental Health Services grants, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment, the Educational and Training Voucher Program, Family Planning programs, Kinship Guardianship Programming, Transition from Homelessness program, and more.
It also includes Head Start –which provides early education, health screenings, and food–to young children.
7. Most people affected by Medicaid cuts don’t know it’s coming. Trump previously said his budget bill wouldn’t cut Medicaid, but deep cuts were passed last week. They don’t go into effect until 2026, and due to local naming conventions, many people don’t even know they will be at risk.
Here is what Medicaid is called in each state, listed alphabetically by state.8. Action items: Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
Hit the streets if you are able. It’s past due.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.
Boycott businesses supporting these policies. Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.
Join Project Mail Storm by writing and sending paper letters to government. More info on our site.
Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech.
Consider running for local office or getting involved to support a local candidate through organizing or phone banking–especially progressive primary challengers.
Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.
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Week 24 Updates
- Congress passes harrowing budget ushering in police state. 17 Million Americans to lose healthcare. Approx 7.4 million to lose SNAP (food stamps).
At least 51,000 additional Americans to die otherwise preventable deaths annually.
Rural and pediatric hospitals, which rely heavily on Medicaid (and the latter also NIH funding) are in danger of closing.
ACA and private insurance patients will also pay more.
Related services in schools, like speech and physical therapy, often bill through Medicaid, and are now in danger, especially in conjunction with DoEd cuts.
The cuts do not kick in until 2026, to protect GOP from midterm election losses. All but two Reps. voted for the bill.
The cuts do not lower the national debt. They only give a tax cut to the ultra wealthy, and give more money to ICE. - New budget supercharges ICE capacity for kidnappings, concentration camps. The budget takes money from food, healthcare, and education to give to ICE–the masked “agents” who have been detaining immigrants without warrants or due process.
The $170 billion makes them the biggest law enforcement agency in the country, with a budget larger than many of the world’s militaries.
The funds come days after the opening of a new Florida detention camp, as Trump and other GOP lawmakers suggest denaturalizing and detaining citizens. Far-right activist Laura Loomer explicitly called for murder (by alligator mauling) of the entire US Latino population.
More than half of ICE detainees have committed no crimes. Less than 10% have ever been convicted of a violent offense. - Trump admin. illegally withholding $7 billion in education funds. The money, due to K-12 public schools across the country, was already approved by Congress. It was supposed to be distributed on July 1.
Schools starting in a few weeks have already factored that money into their budgets, so students and families will be seeing immediate effects.
Before and after school care, programs for English-language learners, and teacher training will be the hardest hit, though schools will likely be forced to cut from other areas to subsidize the missing money.
The attempt to withhold or cancel the funds is a violation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. It is Congress’s authority to approve and cancel funds. - Action Items. Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
Hit the streets if you are able. It’s past due.
Boycott businesses supporting these policies. Donate to your local food pantry, library, clinics, cash bail funds, or other mutual aid if you can. Or volunteer your time.
Join Project Mail Storm by writing and sending paper letters to government.
Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech.
Protect your neighbors. Warn and record in the presence of ICE. Push your local officials not to collaborate.
Consider running for local office or getting involved to support a local candidate through organizing or phone banking–especially progressive primary challengers.
Think about ways to spread information offline. Make flyers and stickers. Make art.
- Congress passes harrowing budget ushering in police state. 17 Million Americans to lose healthcare. Approx 7.4 million to lose SNAP (food stamps).
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Week 23 Updates
SCOTUS Decision Day:
❌ Limited power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, consolidating power under executive branch (limits ability to stop Trump EOs, etc.) Only SCOTUS or class-action suits remain as judicial checks.
❌ Opened door to unconstitutional revoking of birthright citizenship. Removal of birthright citizenship in Germany is widely recognized by historians as the country’s transition from democracy to dictatorship in the 1930s.
❌ States can restrict Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood.
❌Parents can opt their students out of “exposure” to LGBTQ+ books in public school due to “religious burden” opening door for sweeping book and curriculum bans.
❌No DoEd decision. Employees continue to be paid but are not allowed to work.
✅ Protected the provision of Obamacare/ACA that keeps preventative care covered by insurance companies at no cost to patients. This includes things like wellness checkups, HIV testing and PrEP, blood pressure medication and other maintenance medications and tests.
✅ Upheld the FCC’s Universal Service Fund. The money supports the expansion of telephone and broadband service, especially in rural areas. It also subsidizes internet access at schools, libraries and low-income households.
2. Senate moves closer to vote on budget bill; McConnell Says of People Losing Medicaid “They’ll Get Over it”. The Senate continues to rework the “big beautiful” budget bill that will gut Medicaid, SNAP and other services to provide tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. They are expected to vote soon.
A provision preventing Medicaid from paying for trans folks’ healthcare was removed, (good news, though it can still be added back in on the floor).
Wheelchair-using protesters were again arrested at the capitol protesting Medicaid cuts.
McConnell urged his colleagues to go through with the vote, acknowledging that constituents were calling in worried about Medicaid, but that “they’ll get over it.”
3. Beyond Medicaid Patients: Everyone’s Care at Risk Under New Budget. The Center for American Progress estimates the proposed budget bill will increase cost of health insurance for everyone, including those who buy plans on the marketplace or through work. Depending on family size and age, costs could increase from about $1000 to $15,000 annually.Since 49% of American children are on Medicaid, Medicaid funds large swaths of pediatric hospitals. Medicaid cuts mean less money and resources for children’s hospitals, and fewer beds for all (including those with private insurance).
Medicaid also pays for some related services at public schools like Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy. These cuts in addition to DoEd cuts will decimate already underfunded special education programming.
4. RFK’s new Antivaxx Committee Meets; AAP says they’ll Ignore any changes: The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, recently repopulated by antivaxxers and COVID-deniers, has begun meeting to plan new recommendations for vaccine schedules and availability. This is important because it will affect whether offices and pharmacies receive, and insurance companies will cover, vaccines even if people ask for them.The American Association of Pediatrics released a statement that they will continue to recommend the evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule independent of any of RFK’s new recommendations. Advocates hope the AAP’s stance will pressure insurance companies into continuing vaccine coverage.
5. Deaf Man in ICE Prison for Over 80 Days without due process, interpreter: Family of a Deaf Mongolian man say he has been held in an ICE detention center for over 80 days without access to due process, or anyone who knows Mongolian Sign Language.The man, who committed no crime, had entered the country and immediately turned himself in to Border Patrol so he could ask for asylum. He brought with him a written letter detailing the reasons why he feared for his life and return to Mongolia, but agents refused to look at it.
He was denied the “credible fear screening” used to determine whether one has a case for asylum, and all other due process procedures.
6. 911 Calls from ICE Detention flood in, but many are ignored.
A report from WIRED analyzed the content of hundreds of calls from inside ICE centers from both workers and prisoners detailing a variety of horrors, including sexual assault, medical neglect, pregnancy complications, mental health crises, and deaths by suicide.People previously detained in ICE centers have spoken of being denied access to medication for chronic health conditions, a situation worsened by overcrowding, understaffing, inadequate staff training and accountability, and a general culture of cruelty surrounding the detentions.
7. Several states turn over medical data to DHS; RFK proposes more surveillance via wearables. Several states who provide healthcare coverage to noncitizens recently turned over their Medicaid data to the Department of Homeland Security, including California, Washington, Illinois and DC.The data surrender is an invasion of privacy and concerning in the hands of RFK’s HHS, who have vowed to create a “registry” of autistic people.
Advocates are also concerned this will prevent immigrants from seeking healthcare or early intervention services.
RFK praised health surveillance on Americans, saying he wanted everyone in the country to be using a wearable within four years.
Action items:
at to Do: Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.
Calling is also important if you buy your own health insurance or get it through work. This bill affects your premiums and access to hospitals, too.
Join Project Mail Storm by writing and sending paper letters to representatives and the White House. Each is required to be opened and logged.
Make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines. Ditch the wearable tech.
Protect your neighbors.
Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers and stickers. Warn (and record) in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.
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Week 21 Update
1. Department of Energy leads new attack on Section 504 Over the past several weeks, the Department of Energy has been working to weaken Section 504, a statute that protects disabled people’s right to enter and be accommodated in any spaces that receive federal funding, including government buildings, public schools, hospitals that accept Medicaid, and more.
The change seeks to allow various entities to decide whether or not they want to include accessibility and accommodations for disabled people based on whether they are “efficient.”
The language is vague about the breadth of spaces that would be affected or what precedent it would set for 504/ADA enforcement.
Public comment is open until June 16. Templates are available at the link above.
2. Hospitals Warn Medicaid Cuts Will Devastate Rural Facilities Republicans continue to work on a budget bill that seeks to cut $785 billion from Medicaid programs across the next decade.
Rural doctors and hospitals, especially in GOP-leaning populations in the middle of the country, will be disproportionally affected, as those populations tend to rely more heavily on Medicaid programs.
This, alongside recent private equity takeovers of hospitals to flip them for profit, is creating healthcare deserts, where people may face extremely long wait times and/or travel for hours to reach emergency care.
3. RFK Jr. Dismisses Entire Sitting Panel of CDC Vaccine Panel
RFK Jr. dismissed the entirety of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, which previously had 17 members.
Later in the week he announced 8 people to serve as their replacements. At least two have been very vocal against COVID mitigation measures, like masking, as well as vaccines.
It is another of RFK’s many attacks on vaccine science since taking power at HHS, coinciding with the large sums of money he receives from antivax lobbyists.
Healthcare providers and advocates are concerned that changes to vaccine recommendations will affect access, especially since health insurance companies use the panels to make decisions on what they will pay for.4. Antivax and Ableist Approaches to Autism Allow Conspiracy Cures to Gain Traction, Poison Children. The platforming of vaccine and autism-focused misinformation, and the removal of some misinformation safeguards by Google/YouTube, has led to an uptick in dangerous health conspiracies and grifts.
One such group is the “bleach community” who attempts to “cure” autistic children by forcing them to ingest bleach.
Poisoning children with bleach doesn’t make them less autistic. However, it can cause seizures, internal chemical burns, vomiting blood, and death. Platforming and both sides-ing nonscience has consequences.
5. ASHA Moves to End DEI and Cultural Competency Certification Standards ASHA announced this week that they seek to strike language like “cultural humility; diversity, equity and inclusion; culturally and linguistically diverse; cultural responsiveness; equity in care”They claim funding concerns due to federal mandates, but they are privately funded by member dues
ASHA is already a contentious organization. For SLPs and Audiologists, forgoing a supposedly “voluntary” membership can affect licensure in some states. Patients have been harmed by a long history of ableism, including shutting out D/HH and signing professionals, and indecision on dXs like CAPD leaving patients without care (due to no billable insurance codes)
6. Good News: SCOTUS Ruling Makes ADA Complaints Easier in School Settings The unanimous ruling in AJT vs. Osseo Area Schools reifies the ADA is enforceable in public schools, and that students and families do not have to prove “bad faith” or “gross negligence” in order to file a complaint.
Instead, schools will be held to the same legal standard as in other ADA-related cases: “deliberate indifference.” This is a big win for disability rights advocacy, especially in a time when legal oversight for IDEA, the law governing special education, is nearly eradicated by DoEd layoffs.
DOJ oversight will be critical for enforcement of this new ruling, concerning as that department has already sought to weaken ADA guidance in recent weeks.7. Good News: Florida will Teach Disability History in K-12 Schools A new law in Florida mandates that the first two weeks in October will include curriculum on disability awareness and history.
How the law will be implemented and the curriculum developed are still in their early stages.
Some FL advocates have expressed concerns about the vague language of the law, as well as the way it siloes studies of specific disabilities into different grade levels; however, most generally agree it is a good first step in a state that is often hostile toward diversifying curricula.
8. Hickson vs. St David’s Healthcare Partnership threatens ADA/504 in healthcare settings Michael Hickson, a 46-year-old disabled Black man died in Texas in June 2020 after contracting Covid and being denied ventilator care and other ICU services. At the time, Texas and 24 other states had policies about rationing care that explicitly discriminated against disabled people. This is one of the things Final Rule updates seek to rectify.The case is currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative court. If they rule in favor of the hospital, it would set a precedent that guts disabled people’s ability to file medical facility-related discrimination claims under the ADA or Section 504.
Action Items:
Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.
Leave a comment with the Dept. Of Energy speaking against their proposed changes to 504 enforcement. Templates available here.
If your state is involved, ask your Attorney General to withdraw from Texas v. Kennedy. If able, donate to organizations like DREDF, ACLU, and NAD who are fighting various legal challenges, and ADAPT who routinely put their bodies on the line in activist work.
Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers! Call out misinformation. Warn your neighbors in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.
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Week 20 Updates
1. WH loses appeal on Dept of Ed layoffs: A federal district court had previously barred the Department of Education from going through with the layoffs of about half its staff.
Secretary of the department former WWE exec Linda McMahon testified before Congress that they had done no studies or analysis about how the layoffs would affect students, teachers, or educational infrastructure overall before acting.
The administration appealed to the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to lift the injunction, but the appeal was rejected. They can now choose to comply or take the matter before the Supreme Court. The latter would be a lengthy process likely hobbling many programs in the meantime, especially in special education.
2. UPenn-Yale research estimates 51,000 deaths annually from proposed Medicaid/ACA cuts: The research estimated the passage of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” would result in the following deaths:
- Ending Medicare Savings Program for subsidized prescriptions– 18,200 annual deaths
- Removal of Medicaid/care Services nursing home staffing rules–13,000 annual deaths
- 7.7 million people losing coverage via Medicaid and ACA–11,300 deaths
- Failure to extend Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits–8,811 deaths
3. Group of disabled activists, clergy arrested at capitol protesting Medicaid cuts: A group of activists made up of clergy and disabled organizers were arrested in at the Capitol on Tuesday after protesting Medicaid cuts. A group of 26 disabled protesters was previously arrested in May for disrupting hearings.
An estimated 14 million people would lose coverage under the proposed cuts. For disabled people, Medicaid provides access to healthcare and the ability to live independently or in-community, rather than institutions and nursing homes.4. Senator Joni Ernst triples down on eugenic “jokes” about Medicaid: In response to a comment at a town hall from a constituent who was concerned that people will die from proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts, Senator Ernst of Iowa smirked and said, “well, we’re all going to die.”
She later made a joke apology video in a cemetery, gaslighting concerned voters by reminding them that technically all humans are mortal, then somewhat inexplicably compared valuing human life to belief in the tooth fairy, followed by a suggestion that people to convert to Christianity.
Ernst was later seen on Twitter saying that instead of “whining” about Medicaid, folks should “get a multivitamin and a job.”
5. US Government begins building database on all US residents: Trump signed an order making the combining of data across agencies possible in March,; the NYT reported this week that the tech company Palantir’s AI mechanisms are working on the task.
Palantir is owned by billionaire Peter Thiel, who in 2009 called women’s right to vote “a blow to democracy,” and in 2023 said, “I no longer believe democracy and freedom are compatible.” He was a also major donor to JD Vance.
A database compiling detailed files on civilians has disturbing implications for all people, especially activists, immigrants, and disabled people already targeted by RFK’s tracking attempts.
6. Schools for the deaf and disabled under threat as states brace for proposed DoEd cuts. Bracing for a federal budget that eliminates nearly $300 billion in education funding, some states are taking advantage of their expected freedom under the block grant system and cutting special education budgets.Internal sources at deaf schools in NJ, Delaware, Indiana and California have warned of staff and budget cuts for the coming year.
Missouri’s state budget also proposed the closure of 12 schools for disabled children with high support needs.
Lack of DoED oversight and block grant distribution allows states to take money from special ed with no consequences.
7. Hickson vs. St David’s Healthcare Partnership poses threat to ADA/504: Michael Hickson, a 46-year-old disabled Black man died in Texas in June 2020 after contracting Covid and being denied ventilator care and other ICU services. At the time, Texas and 24 other states had policies about rationing care that explicitly discriminated against disabled people. This is one of the things Final Rule updates seek to rectify.
The case is currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative court. If they rule in favor of the hospital, it would set a precedent that guts disabled people’s ability to file medical facility-related discrimination claims under the ADA or Section 504.
Action Items:Share this info! Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on this dangerous budget. Choose 1 or 2 programs important to you–Medicaid, gender-affirming care, SNAP, IDEA, etc.–and mention them by name.
Call your state rep. and tell them to include schools for deaf and disabled children in their budgets, especially if you live in CA, DE, NJ, MO, or IN.
Call your House rep. and tell them to take a stand on government information overreach with Palantir’s project and other “registry” proposals.If your state is involved, ask your Attorney General to withdraw from Texas v. Kennedy. If able, donate to organizations like DREDF, ACLU, and NAD who are fighting various legal challenges, and ADAPT who routinely put their bodies on the line in activist work.
Consider how to move toward creative acts of mutual aid, and protest, including offline materials. Make flyers! Call out misinformation. Warn your neighbors in the presence of ICE. If able march, boycott, donate and/or volunteer with your local food pantry or library.
Bonus Action:The Department of Energy is currently rolling back ADA/504 protections by allowing entities to choose whether or not to provide accommodations based on “efficiency”. As written, it’s unclear what kinds of buildings will be affected, but the vague nature of the rollback is also part of the danger. Check out DREDF’s explainer and templates here.